Javi Gracia believes the international break has arrived at a good time for Watford and provides ample opportunity for both work and rest.

The Hornets head into the two-week pause from competitive action on the back of two straight defeats, having lost 3-0 and 5-0 at Arsenal and Liverpool respectively.

They have had to contend with an ongoing injury crisis throughout the season and are still without the likes of Younes Kaboul, Christian Kabasele, Tom Cleverley, Nathaniel Chalobah and Gerard Deulofeu.

While some of Watford’s players will be away with their national sides, the majority are set to remain at their London Colney training base, giving Gracia ample chance to work with his squad and hopefully be boosted by positive injury news.

“Many of them will be with their national teams, now four have gone and maybe there will be more,” Gracia said.

“We will try to take advantage of the time and to improve because we have, in this moment, more players available.

“Like the last one (international break) we will try to work and rest because we need to do both.

“The next weeks, we’ll see if players will come back. They are in a process of recovery and we’ll see. It depends on their process.”

Many teams, as is the fashion these days, will take the absence of Premier League football as an opportunity to head to warmer climates in search of favourable training conditions.

With the mercury once again reading sub-zero levels and snow sweeping across Britain, the lure of travelling overseas in search of sunshine is an understandable one.

Gracia is, however, of the opinion that such a sojourn is not necessary for Watford to achieve their aims during the halt in top flight action.

He said: “No, I do not need to train in the heat at the moment. We are in a perfect condition to train and I prefer to stay here. I prefer to stay together.

“It’s better to take advantage of the time. In other moments, it might be better, but I prefer to stay here.”

Watford will hope to bounce back from their back-to-back loses when they return to action with the visit of AFC Bournemouth to Vicarage Road in a fortnight.

Defeat at Anfield on Saturday, coupled with Crystal Palace’s 2-0 defeat of Huddersfield, means Watford go into that game just eight points clear of the bottom three.